


This Christmas

by serohtonin



Category: Glee RPF
Genre: Anal Sex, Established Relationship, Fluff, Frottage, Hand Jobs, M/M, RPF
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-17
Updated: 2013-01-17
Packaged: 2017-11-25 21:29:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,732
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/643155
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/serohtonin/pseuds/serohtonin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Darren and Chris trim the tree and celebrate the holiday with a party at Chris’ house, where they reveal their relationship status to everyone.</p>
            </blockquote>





	This Christmas

**Author's Note:**

> This is primarily a Darren/Chris fic, with minor references to or suggestions of the other pairings. 
> 
> Of course, I own no one and none of this is true, except Cory/Lea. 
> 
> Title taken from and inspired by the song of the same name.

Chris wakes up to Darren humming a vaguely familiar tune against his skin, not a very unusual occurrence, since they’ve been together the past few months, and he stays over more often than not.

“Hi,” Darren smiles sleepily. “You ready to enjoy our day off, babe?”

“Maybe. I still have things to do. What do you have in mind?” he asks through a yawn.

“It’s December. It’s almost Christmas. _Merry Christmas, baby,_ ” Darren starts to sing.

“Please, don’t, right now. ”

“ _You sure did treat me nice,”_ he nuzzles Chris’ neck.

The slight stubble tickles a little, but he actually enjoys it. “Really, mmm, don’t finish the song. We’re not in _that_ place, yet.”

“I know, but it’s a nice sentiment. I’m feeling festive.”

“Oh my God, what does that even mean?”

He pecks Chris on the cheek. “You’ll see.” He disentangles their limbs and stumbles out of the room.

Chris sits up in bed. “Darren. Darren!”

He hears Darren race down the stairs, so he collapses back onto his bed, wanting to rest a little longer and hold off on chasing his speedy boyfriend for a little while.

\----

After a shower and another hour of sleep, Chris trudges downstairs to a messy living room, and a disheveled-looking Darren. “Darren, what are you doing?”

He’s still in boxers and a t-shirt, but he’s wearing his glasses now and a Santa hat atop his head. His arms are spread out with a long strand of silver garland. He’s humming again, “Deck the Halls,” Chris thinks.

“Decorating your house for the party.”

“What party?”

He drops the garland and picks a tangled string of lights out of a huge box that Chris doesn’t even remember owning. “Uh, the party that I told, like, half your contacts to come to this weekend.”

“You stole my phone?”

“Um, I love you?” he tries. “C’mon, don’t be a Scrooge. I know you didn’t have any other plans. I’ll help you throw it. First, you need to get to your house ready. You don’t even have a tree. Shame on you, Christopher.”

“I’ve been a little busy, Darren.”

“That doesn’t mean you can’t get in the Christmas spirit. You always get dressed up for Halloween and that’s only one day out of the year. Christmas is practically a whole season.”

“I’m not home most of the time anyway. Why bother?”

“Because it’s the most wonderful time of the year.” His brows furrow as he unsuccessfully tries to untangle the lights for several minutes (his frustration is kind of adorable, Chris thinks).“God damn it.” He throws them down and picks up the garland again, wrapping it around his neck like a feather boa.

Chris rolls his eyes and giggles. Really, he should expect that kind of behavior from Darren by now.

He strides closer, his hazel eyes warm with a kind of adoration that Chris still isn’t used to in the privacy of his own home, away from cameras and scripts. “We should celebrate it.” His hands curl around Chris’ waist. “I wanna celebrate it with you.”

Though it’s only been a few months and Chris still doesn’t want to get his hopes up in this relationship, his heart can’t help fluttering a little at Darren’s sentiment. “Fine, if it’s that important to you. You look ridiculous, by the way.”

“Ridiculously awesome, you mean.” He cups Chris cheek and leans in for a kiss. “Now, help me decorate some more, and then we can find a tree to trim.”

\----

“Ungh, I can’t believe no one recognized us,” Chris remarks while lugging the stump end of a fresh pine tree through his door, “though I don’t know why you insisted on picking one out and not buying an artificial one.”

“Pshtttt,” Darren scoffs from where’s he carrying the top of the tree. “It’s not really Christmas without a real tree, Chris.”

“But what if someone saw us? And who’s going to water this thing, _and_ vacuum up all the needles, _and_ make sure Brian doesn’t swallow any of them, huh?”

“Chill out. No one did. We drove out of L.A, remember? You can do all that. You’re like, fucking, Superman, or something, and stop being so damn grumpy. You’re draining all the cheer out of me.”

“But people link me to practically anyone I hang out with. The fact that we left our city doesn’t mean shit.”

Darren tries to tilt his head so he could see Chris’ face, but to no avail. “Are you saying you don’t want to be linked with me, Chris Colfer?” he teases, feigning annoyance.

“I’m not saying that, but if someone--”

Darren cuts him off. “Look, if you’re that worried about it, we don’t- we don’t have to answer to them, y’know? We were buying a _Christmas tree,_ not making out in the middle of the street. We should, uh, set this down in the corner, right over there.”

Chris angles his head to see what direction Darren is pointing toward. They turn the tree and they’re just about to put it down when---

“Shit.”

“What, Dare?”

“I forgot the tree stand in the car.”

“No. We’ll lean it against the wall for a minute. Now, we’ll ease it down. Let go.”

Chris lowers his end down.

“Unhh,” Darren pushes the tree into the corner, “ow,” and then sets it against the wall. “Phew. See? That wasn’t too hard was it?” he grins, his hands framing Chris’ face. “We don’t have to play their game, Chris. We could be nice to them, but we don’t owe them anything. I’m not about to give them stuff that’s none of their business, stuff that--” He leans his forehead into Chris, “that is sacred to me, okay?”

He gulps, and his heart skips for the second time today. “Yeah, okay.”

“I,” Darren kisses Chris’ lips briefly, dropping his hands away, “will be right back.”

Darren’s sort of right, he guesses, but he’s had to deal with this scrutiny for a lot less time than Chris has; he didn’t have to grow up in front of the entire world and have every relationship, platonic or not, analyzed and questioned by the whole world. He doesn’t want the public to find out about this thing with Darren, mostly because he’s not even sure he wants to tell their friends yet.

Chris tries to distract himself from these thoughts by staring up at the tree while he’s waiting for Darren. It’s maybe a foot taller than Chris is, and, he has to admit, it’s a beautiful choice, especially for the first one in his home. The air of the whole front room is already pleasantly permeated with pine. Maybe making his house more festive was a good idea.

“Okay. I am back.” Darren returns, tree stand in hand, and places it a few inches away from the tree. “Now let’s put this baby in.”

“Please don’t say that during sex.”

“Hmmm. Maybe I will, and maybe I won’t, Colfer.”

“Y’know--Never mind. Help me do this.”

“Gladly.”

They put the tree in the stand gingerly. It takes a couple of minutes of adjusting but soon, the tree is fully upright and supported solely by the stand.

“Yay! It fits!” Darren mutters excitedly.

“Please don’t say _that_ during sex, either.”

Darren ignores the comment and looks over at Chris. “Seriously, did you know there are like, different size tree stands depending on the height? Because I sure as hell did not know that.”

Chris unties a strand of twine near the bottom that held the branches together during transport. “Well, that makes sense. They’re not one-size-fits-all. The taller the tree, the wider the base, no?”

“Fuck, you are so logical.” Darren walks around the other side, untying more twine from the middle of the tree. “Logical and cute. The whole package, really, and I’m not even touching _any_ of that innuendo.”

“Wow, I’m so proud of you, acting mature for once, and you can stop with the compliments. I’m already sleeping with you.”

“Why, thank you, and I will _always_ compliment you, but Chriiiss,” he whines.

_“What?”_

Darren points above where he untied the thin string, to yet another piece of string. “Help me. I can’t reach this.”

“Ugh, will you stop? You are not that short.”

Darren pulls him around to his side and into his arms. “I know, but I wanted you next to me.”

“You are such a sap.”

He kisses the corner of Chris’ mouth. “Mmm, sap.”

“Pine sap is gross, though. You’re thinking of maple sap, er, syrup, rather.”

“Shh, you’re ruining the moment. Finish untying your tree.”

Chris turns, reaching up to undo the last of the twine. He turns back to Darren and smiles, who beams back at him.

Darren lets him go. “Now, we have to shake it out, so it gets full. Go back to the other side.”

Chris returns to his previous spot. “Hmmm, I could’ve sworn I heard you say that about your hair once.”

He sticks a middle finger out to Chris as they set out on their task. When they’re done, the two men step back to look at it.

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” Darren asks, brushing his hands off.

“Yeah. It really is.”

Darren runs to the other end of the room, pulling a long piece of white fabric out of a plastic bag. “Oops, almost forgot. Needs a tree skirt.” He unfurls it and bounds back over to Chris. “You do the honors. Just wrap it around the base of the stand.”

“Where did you get that?”

“I may have bought a few things and stashed them with the Christmas stuff you apparently forgot you had.” He holds the tree skirt out to Chris.

“Oh, right. I brought some of that back from my parents’ last year. You’re a lot stealthier than I give you credit for.”

“Stealth is my middle name, man.”

Chris snickers and takes the proffered end of the skirt. “Yeah, okay. Whatever. It might take both of us.”

“Okay.”

They wrap it around the bottom of the tree, their fingers brushing where they drape the fabric together.

Darren smiles from where’s he crouching down near the base. “It looks like snow. That’s why I picked it.”

He looks into Darren’s eyes, alight with wonder, and he starts to think that decorating his first Christmas tree in his very own home, with this man, feels so right, and wonderful even.

“Dare?” He grabs Darren’s hand.

“Hmm?”

“Thank you, for all of this.”

“You’re so welcome. Whatever you mean by that, the pleasure is certainly all mine, m’dear.”

 _“My dear?_ I was going to kiss you, but now...”

“What, you don’t like it?” Darren pouts.

“I dunno,” he shrugs.

Darren jumps up suddenly, a mischievous grin playing across his face. He’s back near the box on the other side of the room.

When Chris stands up, Darren’s in front of him again, but with one hand behind his back.

Darren quickly raises his hand above their heads before Chris can process what he’s doing.

“Ha! Now you have to kiss me, Colfer.” He tilts Chris’ chin with one finger until the other man looks up. “Mistletoe,” he adds when he meets Chris’ curious gaze. “It’s, like, a tradition or whatever.”

“I know what the hell mistletoe is.”

Then, they’re kissing, one of Darren’s hands cupping Chris’ cheek, and Chris’ fingers tangling in Darren’s curls.

Darren nips at Chris’ lower lip, pressing his body forward into Chris’. He drops the plant in favor of gripping Chris’ waist, a small moan escaping Darren's mouth. He chases Chris' lips for another brief kiss, but then pulls away.

"Um, I'd say that was an effective tactic," Darren smirks.

"Yeah," Chris blushes, despite their semi-innocent activities, and that they've done much more than that on other occasions. "So, uh, the tree?"

Darren’s hands wander down to Chris’ ass. “Fuck the tree.”

“You’re only saying that so you don’t have to muddle through untangling the lights again.”

“And you’re only half right about that, but I guess we can do the tree first.”

“It was _your_ idea in the first place, Darren!”

“You can’t have Christmas, _or_ a Christmas party, for that matter, without a tree.”

Chris’ hand drop to Darren’s shoulders. “The latter of which was _also_ your idea.”

Darren sighs, rubbing up and down the small of Chris’ back. “Damn you and your logic. I suppose we should work on the lights first, then? Ooh, and then the garland?” he suggests the second question animatedly.

“Always with the sparkly, shiny things.”

He kisses the tip of Chris’ nose. “You know it, babe.”

Darren practically leaps over to the box of Christmas stuff again.

“We can just drag the box over here, y’know,” Chris calls out.

“Yeah, I guess it would be less of a pain in the ass. Once again, your intelligence astounds me.” He pulls the box close to where Chris is standing, a couple feet away from the tree.

Chris puts a hand on his hip. “It’s called being practical, something you will never understand."

"Ah, but that's why I have you," he replies playfully, lugging the long green wire of multi-colored bulbs out of the box.

"So that's why you keep me around, eh?"

Darren glances over with a grin. "Among other reasons, yeah. Will you help untangle my lights?"

"I'm so glad that's not a really bad double entendre." He begins to untwist the clump of wires.

"I didn't even think of that actually." Darren kisses Chris on the cheek. "I'm filing that one away for later."

“Like you need any more ideas.” Chris rolls his eyes.

“Just a few more knots to undo, and I think we’ll be finished,” he gestures to the lights. “This is like cat’s cradle or something, that stupid string game.”

Chris' eyes narrow. “What? Your mind is so strange sometimes.”

“Thank you,” Darren smiles.

They work silently for a few minutes, until the lights are finally straightened out, and then, they carefully shuffle over to the tree.

They drape the lights along the branches, Darren humming "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree." Chris laughs but taps his foot to the beat.

"What?" Darren grins as he looks over at Chris.

"Nothing. I was going to ask if you ever get tired of singing, but then I remembered who I was talking to."

"'Course. You love it, though."

"Actually," he pauses thoughtfully, "I do."

Darren opens his mouth to comment, but promptly closes it, and grins again when Chris looks away. "Fuck," he mutters. "We totally should've watered it first."

"Right," Chris frowns. "Well, we should still be able to, as long as we steer clear of the wires."

"True." Darren goes to the kitchen, filling a clear, plastic pitcher with water.

When he returns, Chris eyes the container in his hand, and squats down, lifting some branches at the base.

Darren stares at the scene before him, eyes darting between the tree and Chris. He gulps as he realizes the enormity of what they've been doing all day; decorating the house and picking out a tree - it's all so...domestic. Surprisingly, this doesn't frighten him as much as it would have, even a year ago. He thinks it could be something to get used to, honestly.

"Hellloo?" Chris snaps his fingers. "You alright?"

He clears his throat. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine."

“Then, get down here and water _your_ tree.”

Darren obliges him, but softly utters, “It’s _our_ tree.”

Chris closes his hand over Darren’s. “Yeah, I guess so.”

“So,” Darren drops the now-empty jug and pulls Chris up, “let’s finish. After the garland, you have a ton of cool ornaments, some of which I may or may not have bought for you.”

Chris chuckles as they string up the garland, and then dance around each other while they pluck some ornaments out of the box.

They take turns hanging assorted bulbs, until Darren fishes out an ornament that looks sort of like an action figure of a man in black robes and a black headscarf, who's holding a long sword.

"Chris, this is so cool! What is it?"

He rubs the back of his neck, and mumbles, "It's, uh, a ninja."

Somehow, Darren picks up on it, though they're standing a few feet apart. "Seriously? That's awesome! Why are you so embarrassed about it?"

"Because, who the hell puts ninjas on a Christmas tree? It's not exactly normal."

"Uh, you do. You can put whatever you want on your tree. It's an extension of you, and you're kind of a ninja," Darren smiles. "That's what's so great about it. Personally, I love it. Ooh, do you have any Ninja Turtles in here?" He rifles through the box. "Aww, would ya look at that?"

Chris hops over curiously, peering over Darren's shoulder. "Oh my God."

Darren's holding a picture frame ornament, containing a photo of who appears to be Chris as a child, hugging a young girl. "Is that-?" Darren starts, turning to Chris.

"Me and Hannah, yeah. I didn't even know my parents gave this to me."

"How old were you here?"

"I'm not sure, four maybe? I think this is from a family picnic or something."

"Yeah?" Darren turns back to the photo. "Aww, you have freckles."

"You know I have freckles."

"I know, but I really like them. I always did." He turns toward Chris again, but avoids his eyes. "When you-two summers ago, on the tour, your makeup was all, sweating off, and when I got close enough, I could see your freckles. They were fainter than they are here, but, uh, yeah, I like them."

"Oh," is all Chris can say, because that was before he even thought of dating Darren, before his co-star should have even noticed things like that, unless-

"I can hear you thinking, and it's not a Blaine thing. There's no evidence that Kurt even has freckles."

"Yeah, but-"

"But we've been over this. I like _you._ Love you, even, remember?"

"Yeah, I remember."

Darren squeezes Chris' side. "So, try not to overanalyze it. This is about you. Why do you think I'm here, huh?"

"Because your roommates are annoying?"

“Sometimes, yeah,” he chuckles, “but that's not why. I like sleeping next to you, and waking up with you, and fucking around with you." He strokes Chris' cheek. “But I'm not _just_ fucking around, y'know? I enjoy your company in general, every aspect of it.”

“Wow, I didn't expect you to get all serious there.”

“I was being rhetorical, but you always play everything off,” he swallows, “so I had to.”

Chris smiles and takes Darren's hand. “C'mon, let's turn the lights on and admire our handiwork. Then you can show me how much you enjoy every aspect of my company.”

His other hand snakes under Chris' shirt. “That will not be a problem at all. It was my intention all along.”

Chris licks his own lips, reluctantly pulling away to close the window shade on the darkening day.

Darren stands by the outlet and counts down. "Three, two, one." Then, the colored lights bathe the room in a soft glow. "Shit. We totally have to put a star on the tree."

"You keep forgetting things. You suck at Christmas tree decorating." Chris pulls the tree topper, a sparkling gold star, out of the box. "I might as well do this part."

Darren carefully maneuvers out of the tiny space between the tree and the wall. "Now you're being mean. I don't think you appreciate my efforts, Chris."

"I do, but I know you'd need a stepstool to reach."

He wraps his arms around Chris' middle from behind. "I seem to recall being the perfect size for a great deal of other stuff," he punctuates with a kiss to Chris' neck.

Chris strains to place the topper in the proper position. "Yeah, unhh, perfectly adequate. There."

"Wow, you sure know how to flatter a guy," he deadpans.

"I try," Chris shrugs. Satisfied with the placement of the star, he turns in Darren's embrace. "What d'ya think?"

"I think it looks pretty good." Darren's gaze flickers to Chris' lips. He darts in for a kiss, and then walks them backward toward the middle of the room so they can fully admire the tree. "Nope. I take that back. It's beautiful. Ooh!"

"What are you-? Oof!"

Darren pulls Chris down and they fall into a heap on the floor. "Haven't you ever laid in the grass and looked up at the stars?"

He rolls to lay flat on his back. "Um, yeah."

"This is kinda like that, no?"

"I guess, except this hurts my ass. No, wait. It’s pretty much the same then."

Darren turns to his side and chuckles, his fingers trailing up Chris’ chest. “So, what you’re saying is, you need a distraction? From all the, um, pain?”

Chris grabs the front of Darren’s shirt until Darren’s half on top of him. “It would be less painful if I had a cushier ass.” His hands graze Darren’s ass for emphasis.

“Mmm. Hey,” he pouts, but quickly concedes before leaning in for a kiss, "Meh, my ass _is_ pretty cushy."

Chris licks his own lips and smiles as he watches the lights play across Darren's face. "I love you. Seriously."

"Well, I love you seriously, too." He climbs on top of Chris, his lips finding Chris' neck.

"Mmm."

"Uh huh." Darren's hand slips under the hem of Chris' shirt. He kisses along Chris' jaw and deftly unbuttons Chris’ jeans with his other hand. “It’s true.”

The hard wood floor digs at Chris' back, but he doesn't really care anymore once Darren reaches inside his underwear.

Chris looks to reciprocate, his own fingers brushing against the hair on Darren’s stomach.

“Wait,” Darren breathes out, dragging his grip up to the head of Chris’ dick. “Wanna see you come. Your hands, distracting.”

He ignores the request because he really can’t resist working his hand into Darren's pants.

“Fuck, Chris.” Their mouths meet, Darren’s hand growing more frantic as he tries to thrust into Chris’ touch. “Feels so good. L-look at me.”

He looks up and sees dark hazel eyes blown out with lust. "We're really doing this," Chris breathes out when Darren's thumb catches along the slit, "in the middle of the floor?"

"Why the fuck not? You don't think it's ro- oh, shit," he exclaims, Chris' pinky ghosting along one of his balls, "romantic?"

"You have some strange notions about, unhh, about romance."

"Not-unhh _\- c'mon, faster -_ not really. It's about-fuck- it's about being adventurous, and spontaneous," he pants into Chris' neck.

Chris finally comes after Darren brushes over his asshole, too far gone to respond with anything other than a low moan.

Not too soon after, Darren releases with a shout of Chris' name, collapsing on top of him. "I love Christmas."

"You love Christmas or you love orgasms?"

"They're not mutually exclusive, Chris," he kisses the crook of Chris' neck, "but I do like them both better with you."

Chris gently slides his hand out of Darren’s pants and down to the small of his back, earning a small whine from Darren. He doesn’t know what else to say, his heart stuttering at how sentimental Darren’s acting today.

“Shower, yeah?” Darren murmurs, his warm palm lingering on Chris’ stomach.

“Yeah, I’d say so.”

\----

Once they're clean and Chris has another orgasm _("'Tis better to give than to receive," Darren smirked),_ Darren runs a towel through his own hair, and Chris', and then wraps it loosely around them both. "I didn't invite a whole lot people to the party, y'know, just the ones that you're closest to."

"How do you know who I'm closest to?"

Darren rubs Chris' shoulders. "Hey," he answers softly, "don't get defensive on me. It's just gonna be a nice, small get-together with friends."

"You want to spend our last bit of time together before Christmas with other people? I can think of better ways to utilize it than getting drunk with our friends." He circles a fingertip around Darren's nipple.

He sucks in a breath. "As enticing as that sounds, it's not our last time together _ever,_ unless there's something you're not telling me."

"Nope. Not at all. I-you turned me into a romantic, sex-crazed idiot. I'd like to be with you, that's all."

"Well, we'll entertain them for a little while, and then, we can entertain each other. How does that sound?"

"Sounds like a good compromise." He leans down slightly to kiss Darren.

“Great. It’ll be great. You’ll see,” Darren grins.

\----

The weekend before Christmas is when Darren invites everyone to Chris’ house, even answering the door when Chris is still upstairs getting ready.

Ashley is the first to arrive.

“Hey, long time, no see,” she smiles, greeting him with a hug and a kiss on the cheek. “You’re here a little early. You’re, like, barely on time for anything.”

He swallows, uneasiness settling over him for a moment, because he's pretty sure that no one knows that he's with Chris, and if she doesn't know, he doesn't want to spring it on her without Chris' consent. “Um, yeah, I was just, uh, finishing up on getting stuff together.” He internally winces at how vague and suspicious that could sound.

“With a BYOB party that's not even at your house? Wow, that's nice of you.”

He lets her, and the bottle of rum she brought, pass through the entryway. "I do what I can," Darren shrugs.

She strides over to the kitchen and puts the alcohol on the counter, taking in the festive decorations. “The tree is beautiful. He didn’t have one last week.”

He rubs the back of neck and looks away. “Yeah, I-I helped set it up.”

“That's really sweet, Darren."

“Yeah, I thought, even if he lives alone, and is working all the time, and isn't gonna be here on Christmas, he should still have something nice to look at. 'Tis the season, and all."

Then, Chris comes down the stairs, dressed up in tight black jeans and a red cardigan. Darren wants to rip those pants right off him, and touch him everywhere, but he resists. “Something nice to look at? Are you talking about yourself again, Darren?” He smirks, gazing up and down Darren’s figure. He steps closer, but not too close.

“No, actually-”

“Although you’re definitely not wrong, Chris." She checks Darren out briefly. "He is pretty easy on the eyes, but he was talking about your tree.”

“Oh, right,” Chris blushes, eyes darting over to Darren. “He went with me to get it. It was, um, sort of, my present.”

“You gave him _Christmas_ as a Christmas present?” she asks Darren.

“Kinda, I guess. That was only part of his gift.” Darren looks back over at Chris. He doesn’t really want to mention the other part to anyone, a beautiful fountain pen engraved simply with, _“Merry Christmas; Love, Darren.”_ It feels too private to divulge now, unless Chris decides to tell her.

“Yeah? Well, this is a pretty awesome gift in itself.”

“Thanks,” Darren replies quietly.

“Well, let’s get this party started, bitches.”

\----

The rest of the guests arrive not too soon after Ashley, and Darren’s well onto his third drink as he glances wistfully across the room at Lea snuggling in Cory’s lap on the couch.

Maybe no one will ever publicly know about Darren and Chris, like they do Cory and Lea, but at least their friends could.

His heart clenches when he looks over at Chris, who's standing next to him and talking to Naya. Darren curls an arm around Chris’ lower back without protest, but when Darren squeezes his side, Chris turns toward him mid-conversation, brows furrowing together.

Darren raises his eyebrows back, as if to say, _What?_ Then, he rubs Chris’ hip lazily, as he sometimes does when they wake up together in the mornings.

“Ahem, Darren?”

“Yes?” he grins dopily. “I like touching you. Is that a problem?”

Chris pauses. "No, I-I suppose not."

"Good," he whispers low in Chris' ear, "because I know you like touching me."

Naya just looks between them in confusion, and Chris looks back at her, and then to Darren.

"Okay, I think you need to lay off the eggnog."

"But it's delicious, just like you," he says a little louder.

"Thanks, I guess?"

"And I don't mean only your mouth, Chris." The hand he has on Chris' hip trails up his side.

"Darren!" he admonishes.

 _"Chrissss!"_ Darren whines. “This is me being tame. I can elaborate further if you need me to.” His hand slips down to Chris’ ass.

“I know you’re a little handsy, but damn, Darren,” Naya laughs.

“I can get handsier, as you very well know,” Darren blurts out, winking at her.

 _“What?_ What does that mean?” Chris’ eyes flit between them.

“Are you jealous?” Darren licks his lips, taking in Chris’ wondering expression.

“He flirted with me a bit on tour, that’s all, and a little bit before that, and after, kind of. You know how flirty he gets,” she explains with a dismissive wave.

“Na- _ya,”_ Darren scolds and turns to her, “don’t ruin my fun. He’s supposed to be jealous,” he turns back to Chris. “You do know how I get, though, rather intimately, I’d say.” He’s holding a drink, but he tries tracing his fingers along the middle of Chris’ chest.

“Anyway, I told him I had a boyfriend, so nothing happened, but, what’s going on here?”

“Um, uh-” Chris stammers. “Wait, wait, on tour?”

“That was almost two years ago. You know how I was feeling, then," he hazily recalls developing something more than friendship for Chris around that time, "and how I feel now." The hand on Chris' ass strokes softly up his spine.

"Yeah, I-I do," Chris quietly confirms, eyes fixed on Darren's.

Naya's voice cuts through their private moment. "How _do_ you feel, Darren?"

Darren doesn't answer her, instead addressing Chris. "I'm sorry we didn't talk about this before, but I'd at least like our close friends to know what's going on."

"What _is_ going on?" Naya interjects again.

"It's fine, I guess. We kinda have to now," Chris concedes to Darren, and then speaks to Naya. "If it wasn't obvious by that display, we're-Darren and I-"

"-are dating," Darren finishes. "We're dating."

"Oh, really?" Naya smiles. "How long?"

Darren looks pointedly at Chris. "Depends on your definition of dating."

"Been there," she chuckles wryly. "That's really great, though, you guys. Life imitating art again, huh?" She nods toward Lea and Cory, who are grinning at each other.

"Yeah, maybe," Darren guesses. "I don't really wanna compare, y'know?" He sorted through that issue enough when his feelings for Chris began. "What we have is ours." He leans his head on Chris' shoulder.

"I knew it!" Ashley shouts from behind them. "Oh my God, after that Halloween party, _this guy_ was the one you were texting?"

"Guilty. So, so guilty," Darren grins knowingly when Ashley faces them, "unless you were texting someone else?" he asks Chris.

"No, of course not, Darren. Don't be ridiculous, and yes, Ashley, it was him that night."

Ashley quirks an eyebrow. “Oh. No one else? That serious, huh?"

Chris nods, blush flooding over his face as he stretches an arm around the back of Darren's shoulders.

"Well, congrats to both of you," Ashley continues, "but, just so you know, Darren, I will kick your ass if you hurt him.”

“Noted.”

"I don't think you have to worry about that, Ash," Chris returns, remembering how he resisted after Darren first confessed his feelings, and how much pain that had caused both of them.

"We'll see. Don't let him go, either of you."

"Wasn't planning on it," Darren answers with a nudge to Chris' shoulder.

"Good." Ashley ruffles Darren's hair.

"Yeah. Good," Chris echoes. "Now, will everyone stop bugging me about getting laid?" he shouts.

“Nope,” Darren obnoxiously chimes.

“Especially you.” Chris pokes Darren’s side.

Darren grabs Chris’ face and kisses him with a loud smack. “Never. Merry Christmas, Chris.”

“Merry Christmas, Darren,” Chris laughs, leaning into Darren's ear. “Let’s finish this thing up so we can actually enjoy ourselves, privately."

“Wait, I thought you said you wanted me to _stop_ bugging you about that.”

“Exactly,” Chris raises his eyebrows.

He pulls Chris closer. “Oh. Well, let’s go upstairs now, then.”

“That would be rude. You’re the one who invited everyone, and it’s my house.”

“So?” His hands slip under Chris’ shirt. “I’m sure they’d understand, especially the ones in a relationship." Darren kisses the side of his neck.

"Oh, is that what we're in?"

"I'd say so." He takes Chris' hand and heads toward the kitchen. "C'mon. I'm sure we can occupy ourselves really quickly without anyone noticing."

"Quickly, huh?"

"I aim to please, Christopher."

Suddenly, Chris' back is against his refrigerator. "How does that please anyone?"

"It'll be a new world record or something," Darren mutters between kisses to Chris' jaw and neck.

"For your age group, maybe. That still doesn't, unhh," he tilts his head for better access, "impress me."

"Fuck you," Darren chuckles gruffly, nipping at the crook of Chris' neck.

Chris presses into him. "Maybe later," he whispers before pushing Darren away and sauntering back into the living room.

Darren grimaces in frustration, but knowing Chris will fulfill his promise satisfies him enough to maintain some semblance of composure for the rest of the evening, until the guests leave and they only have each other.

Then, they retire for the night, together, to appreciate the time they do have, away from friends, and other prying eyes.

Amidst breathy moans and sweaty skin, Darren apologizes again for being drunk and stupid, but he explains that he only wanted their friends to know how much Chris means to him, and to at least not have to hide it from them.

"I don't want to feel like a secret anymore, Chris," he sincerely confesses, brushing the hair off Chris' forehead.

"I know, but this all has happened so fast, and-"

"Shhh," he quiets Chris with a kiss as he slips inside. "I won't let you down, okay?"

Somehow, Chris believes him, and not because it's almost Christmas, or because Darren's getting him off, but because Darren's so damn earnest, that maybe they'll actually work out, into the new year and beyond.


End file.
